From left to right: a view of Atlas' trailing hemisphere, with north up, at a spatial scale of about 1 km (0.6 mile) per pixel; Atlas seen at about 250 m (820 feet) per pixel from mid-southern latitudes, with the sub-Saturn hemisphere at the top and leading hemisphere to the left.

Atlas orbits around the outer edge of Saturn's A Ring and acts as a shepherding satellite, constraining the extent of the outer edge of this ring.

Like Pan, Atlas has a distinctive flying saucer shape created by a prominent equatorial ridge not seen on the other small moons of Saturn. Cassini images revealed in 2004 that a faint ring of material coincides with the orbit of Atlas.

The small, pointy moon is about 32 km (20 miles) across.

Discovery:
Atlas was discovered in 1980 by R. Terrile and the Voyager 1 team.

How Atlas Got its Name:
Moons of Saturn were originally named for Greco-Roman Titans and descendants of the Titans. But as many new moons were discovered scientists began selecting names from more mythologies, including Gallic, Inuit and Norse stories.

Originally designated S/1980 S28, this moon is named after Atlas (AT-less), a Titan, and a son of Iapetus. Atlas was ordered by Zeus to uphold the vault of the sky after the defeat of the Titans. Atlas was so strong that he supported the weight of the Universe on his shoulders.